Colorado Railbike Adventures

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary tour. All opinions are my own.

Looking for a fun new Colorado adventure? An adventure that gets the whole family outside without too much effort? Something active and a little quirky?

Have I got the adventure for you!

Colorado Railbike Adventures is here and it checks all of these boxes!

So just what is a railbike?

As you can probably tell from the pictures here, a railbike is a pedal powered vehicle designed to run on railroad tracks. I've been seeing them pop up online on disused railroad tracks all around the world and they're such a great way to repurpose something no longer in use. The first time I saw one was when we visited Fiji in 2022. The railbikes there run on old sugar cane tracks along the coast. I had really hoped to ride the railbikes there but they were fully booked for the week of our visit, so I'm super excited that we now have such an experience here in Colorado too. 

Obviously there are no views of the ocean here in Colorado, but riding the railbike with the Flatirons and snowcapped Rocky Mountains as our view was pretty spectacular none the less!

Each railbike at Colorado Railbike Adventures seats four people.  Each person has their own set of pedals to power the railbike, but it's pretty easy going so if you have a couple of lazy riders (ahem... kids) who don't want to pedal the whole time, or if there are just two riders, you'll still move pretty easily. 

For families with little ones who are just along for the ride an extra seat can be added to the front. 

All of the seats come with seatbelts similar to what you'd find on an airplane, and harnesses are available for anyone needing something a little more secure.

So, what about the route? Right now there is one route available to ride. The Boulder Valley Mine Route is a 4.2 mile return route that travels west from Colorado Railbike Adventures' depot to Old Town Erie. Along the way the tracks pass by the Erie Disc Golf Course, through farmland, along a creek, over a trestle bridge, across bike paths, and across a road with a dedicated traffic controller. 

In the Fall there will be an 8 mile return route opening as well.

Once you reach the end of the line in Old Town Erie there is a short break at picnic tables while the staff turn the bikes around on their handy custom turn table. During this time you'll learn a little about Erie's mining and railroad history. 

The first leg of the ride is down hill so you can pretty much coast along the whole way. The return ride, however, is uphill so you'll need to put in a little more effort with the pedaling. There's no rush though as you have two hours for the entire trip.

At the depot you'll find plenty of space to relax, picnic tables, restrooms and yard games. 

If you want to see our railbike adventure in action make sure to check out my Instagram post below.

 

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A post shared by Sally Mason / Family Travel (@littlehiccups)

 

You can also see the full length video over on my YouTube channel.

Colorado Railbike Adventures is located at 4121 County Road 3, Erie, Colorado.

Tickets are $160.00 per bike for up to four passengers and can be purchased in advance online at https://www.coloradorailbikeadventures.com/experiences.

Bubble Planet Denver

Disclaimer: We received complimentary tickets for our visit. All opinions are my own.

A new immersive exhibition has popped up in Denver: Bubble Planet!

See what I did there? Popped up?

Ok, cheesy Dad jokes aside, Bubble Planet Denver is here and it is so much fun.

We recently had the chance to check out Bubble Planet before it opened to the public and we had an absolute blast exploring all of the bubble themed experiences within the exhibition. And there are a lot of them!

Let's take a look at Bubble Planet Denver...

DIY Dala Horse Piñata

If you've been here a while you'll probably know that my kids have a habit of choosing strange themes for their birthday parties. We've had a potato party, a Nutella party, a metal detector and penny finding party... 

Well, the latest birthday party hasn't been any different!

This past weekend we celebrated Mathilde's 10th birthday with an Ikea themed party. Yep, she chose everyone's favorite Swedish flat pack furniture store as her party theme!

I've got to say, it was actually a pretty fun theme. The guests all wore Ikea bucket hats (Mathilde's signature look lately), we gave out mini Ikea bags with small Ikea goodies in them as party bags, we played pass-the-parcel with a classic Blåhaj shark plushie as the prize in the middle, we ate Swedish cookies and meatballs, and we finished the party with a (rather shoddy looking!) Ikea bucket hat cake. 

My favorite party activity, however, was the piñata! To go along with the Swedish theme, I made Mathilde a Dala horse pinata. Now, it may look a little complicated in the pictures but, it was seriously one of the easiest piñatas to make ever. You want to know the secret? It's really just a store bought donkey piñata!

Today I'm sharing my simple DIY for taking a store bought donkey piñata and turning it into a Swedish Dala horse piñata. How fun is that?

Our Favorite National Parks

This past week has been National Parks Week here in the US, so I figured it was time I updated my post sharing all of the National Parks sites that we have visited over our thirteen years living in America. 

Have you visited any National Parks? I'd love to hear which one is your favorite.

As there are many different types of national parks locations around the country, I've sorted this post by categories. You'll find the following categories:

• National Parks
• National Historical Parks
• National Historic Sites
• National Monuments
• National Preserves
• National Memorials
• National Recreation Areas
• National Seashores

I've also included an extra special park favorite at the very end of this post so make sure to read all the way through!

Let's take a look...

35+ Must See Murals in Nashville

Have you ever been to Nashville?

If you're anything like me, you probably have an idea in your head that the whole city is nothing but country music, but I'm hear to tell you that there's so much more to see and do in Nashville. 

Ok, so yes, country music is BIG in Nashville and its presence is felt everywhere, but this vibrant city has so much more to offer - especially if you love street art as much as I do!

I recently spent a few days exploring Nashville while I was in town for Mom 2.0 Summit and I was in awe of just how much street art can be found all around town. So today I'm sharing the best murals I found. It's only a tiny glimpse of just how colorful the city is, but I only had a few days to explore and I was busy with other fun touristy stuff that I'll be sharing soon. 

If you're planning a visit to Nashville and you love finding colorful murals, read on... 

Nashville is a pretty big city, so I've divided this list into neighborhoods. That way you'll know that the murals in each section are relatively close to each other. The Downtown, SoBro and Gulch neighborhoods are all within easy walking distance of each other, however the 12 South neighborhood will require driving to. I took an Uber between Downtown and 12 South and it cost me around $11.00 each direction. I've also thrown in one Opryland mural in this list. I didn't explore the area an awful lot and I'm really not sure if there are many murals around there, but this one was right by my hotel on the first night and I couldn't resist adding it. Opryland is east of Downtown and will cost you about $20 for an Uber.